Running Versus Walking – Which is Best for Weight Loss?

When I was young (we’re talking about 5 years of age), I remember being told that the best possible exercise was walking because you could exercise indefinitely. Not long after, I was also told that it’s not “exercise” if you don’t break a sweat. So here I was quite confused and thinking that the best way to exercise is to walk in the heat!

Nowadays, I fortunately have a much clearer understanding of the benefits to both walking and running, so I thought I’d share some information on which is more effective when trying to achieve a weight loss goal.

Walking

By walking, I am referring to a relatively low intensity exercise and not full-on power-walking up hills. Walking is one way to incorporate additional calorie expenditure into your day, which is important when seeking to lose weight. Walking can also be a much safer mode of exercise if you are injured, elderly, at risk medically or have joint problems.

Due to the low intensity nature of walking, you are able to extend the duration of this type of exercise. However, walking at a comfortable pace will have a negligible effect on fitness for the average person. It is okay to expend calories, but that’s about it.

With all this taken into consideration, a low intensity walk can be integrated into nearly any one’s plan to facilitate recovery in between more intense workouts.

Running

Running is a much higher intensity format of exercise. Because of the additional effort required, far more calories are expended within a given time and thus, weight loss will be encouraged more so than walking.

In regards to your fitness, running will have a significant impact on your level of fitness because you are stressing the body and forcing it to condition to these stressful conditions.

However, there can be some drawbacks to the high impact nature of running. Issues such as tendonitis in the lower body, arthritis and injuries (ankle, knees, hips, lumbar spine) can certainly limit your ability to run in a safe manner. Also, if you do have present medical considerations (severe asthma, poor cardiovascular health etc.) you may be unable to undertake a programme that incorporates running.

The high impact nature of running not only limits the percentage of population that can participate in this mode of exercise, but it also inhibits hypertrophy (or muscle building). If your goal is to build a significant amounts muscle, you may consider other low-impact forms of exercise such as using a bike, cross-trainer, rower etc. The high impact nature of running can cause damage along the z-discs of muscle fibres and thus inhibit the degree of muscle growth experienced in the lower body.

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As you can see, there running or walking isn’t necessarily “better” for weight loss. They are both formats of exercise that can be beneficial to you, depending upon your specific goals, history, lifestyle etc.

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